When the Moviefone staff started trying to name the worst romantic comedies of all time, the discussion quickly got heated. Is ‘The Sweetest Thing’ a crass, tasteless mess or an underrated gem? What’s worse, ‘Swept Away’ or ‘Who’s That Girl?’ Which is the worst Freddie Prinze, Jr. rom-com of all time? And are we remiss not to have a single Lindsay Lohan vehicle make the final cut?

We’re sure you’ll have your own strong reaction to our list, especially if you worship Kate Hudson and Dane Cook. (Note to Hollywood: That is not a suggestion to pair these two up. Thank you.)

Don’t get us wrong, when rom-coms are great, they’re great, but more often than not these days, they’re very, very bad. We have to take it on faith that Female Star and Male Star are destined to be together because the script says so, not because they have anything resembling chemistry. We have to endure ridiculous set-ups, annoying characters and, ever since ‘There’s Something About Mary,’ new heights (or rather, lows) in gross-out humor. Can we get a little actual romance here? And maybe a few laughs that aren’t because we’re cringing in horror?

Get the full list of 25 on the Moviefone website:  http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2010/02/09/worst-romantic-comedies/

It’s no secret that every script that makes it to the screen gets rewritten multiple times.  In an informal poll I took at a WGA conference on rewriting, most screenwriters (among them Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe winners) said it took an average of 25-30 drafts before the script reached the stage floor.  So, you know you have some work ahead of you after you reach that glorious moment when you first type FADE OUT.

.

But then what?  There are few courses in rewriting and fewer books (Yes, I do have one – “REWRITE, A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in Your Screenplay,” but we’re not talking about that here.) on how to approach this sometimes daunting task.  You might have the guidance of your trusted advisors or your writing group when it comes to what’s wrong, but who do you turn to to figure out how to fix that?  Or even how to go about fixing that?

.

That’s why I created the residential workshops I’ve been giving in Europe for the past few years.  Here’s how it works.  Eight writers who have completed at least a year in the UCLA Professional Program for Screenwriting or the MFA in Screenwriting program, or have reached an equivalent level in their writing, gather in a villa (yes, a real villa) with me in a remote part of a friendly host country.

.

The Villa There we live and work for two weeks, most meals provided, and we dig into their screenplays and figure out what to do about them.  We meet for three hours a day in a seminar format, we talk at meals, we have informal seminars during long walks in the countryside, and I meet one on one with everyone in “office hours.”

.

In my way of looking at things, writers usually lose their way from first draft to rewrite because they don’t know their character well enough or their structure needs strengthening.  The first thing we do, then, is focus on the character’s flaw.  From the flaw comes the necessity for change.  From the necessity for change come the goals – the inner and the outer – that drive the story.  So we must know the character inside and out so that we know how that character must change and what he or she must do to achieve his or her goals.

.

Then we take a look at the overall story in its most basic form – what I call the seven points of the story.  For the seminar, we send these story points out to each other before we arrive in Europe (this year it’s Spain, last year it was Italy) so that we can discuss them during the first seminar meeting.

.

The seven points all have something to do with the flaw – in the ordinary life (1) we see the flaw and how it affects the person’s life – the necessity for change; in the inciting incident (2) we see something happen that will eventually cause the protagonist to want to change now; at the end of act one (3), we learn of the goal and plan to bring about that change; at the midpoint (4), the character shows us a change in that goal as well as a realization of his flaw; at the low point (5), we see the character as far from that goal as possible; in the final challenge (6) we see the character overcome his flaw and reach his/her goal; and in (7) the return to the now changed forever normal life, we see the character enjoy the fruits of his/her labor in the new life.

.

You can see how the whole story is flaw and goal oriented, but sometimes, in the original writing process, you lose track of that.  Following up on clarifying these essential ideas, we write a new beatsheet and discuss it at length in seminar, private meetings, walks, trips to town, whenever.  We’re always talking about food (we have a cook or a special deal with a local restaurant), movies, or our scripts.  We’re unhindered by interruption from work, friends and family calling (though there is cell reception), or annoying phone solicitors.  We do have wi-fi this year, but it will be on a limited basis.

.

As the first week progresses, the story blooms in sometimes unpredictable ways, but always improves.  Then we begin rewriting scenes, adding new scenes, taking away old scenes that don’t move the story or have been superseded by new directions in the story.  This is a very exciting time as we read portions of new work in the seminars so we can hear if the dialogue works in the mouth and feel the pacing of the scene.  We also work on scene structure and scene dynamics so that writers can get the best out of their pages.

.

Did I mention that we get two days off during the two weeks so that people can travel, rest, write, whatever they want to do?  This year we’ll be within an hour’s train ride from Barcelona, forty-five minutes by car to the beach, and ten minutes from Gerona, a lovely old city dating from the middle ages.  Rewrite Retreat in Spain.

.

Then it’s back to work.  We usually schedule things so that both night and morning writers can get their work done in time for all to read it before the afternoon session.  I have found that when all eight (plus me) participants in a seminar are familiar with everyone’s work, great things can come of the ping-ponging of ideas.  I’ve found seminar participants to be very generous with their thoughts and very supportive both in and out of the workshops.  It’s one of the things I nurture as much as possible because, while I do contribute my own ideas, I’ve found that nine people working on the same story together can come up with things that nine people working separately cannot.  It’s one of the great things about the workshop.

.

And did I mention the food?  Spain has some of the best seafood in the world, and we’ll also be in the middle of their cava region – cava is what they call their sparkling wine, very much on a par with Champagne in my book.

.

By the end of the workshop you can have, with diligence, a completed draft or, at the very least, a very good roadmap to your next draft.  You will also have had a heady creative experience with your peers (which is why there are always several people repeating from the year before).  And, surprisingly, little change in your weight since anything you may have added from the food is usually subtracted by the long walks after lunch and dinner.

.

For more information, visit the site http://rewritementor.com/retreats/spain.html or contact me directly at paul.chitlik@gmail.com.

Two of the most talked about characters in Oscar-nominated pictures this year are emotionally damaged men deployed to handle bombs in people’s lives.  Their approaches to this assignment are very different.

In Up in the Air, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) uses platitudes and a smooth, calm, professional manner to defuse the explosive news that employees are being fired or laid off.  He travels through the gutted terrain of corporate America, ravaged by the financial down-turn and the corporate slash and burn policies of downsizing.

In The Hurt Locker, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) uses a cocky, shoot-from-the-hip, iconoclastic style that is all his own to defuse roadside explosives hidden in sand, cars and the occasional corpse.  He travels through the gutted terrain of Iraq ravaged by war, poor planning policies and the smash and burn fury of insurgents.

Although equally emotionally closed, these two characters are very different.  This is an object lesson in the importance of understanding why a character does or refuses to do what he does.  Although neither man has close intimate family or personal relationships (and in fact both flee from them) these two men represent very different approaches to life and love.  The end result might be the same but their motivations and psychological profiles are very different.

Up in The Air – Power of Reason

Characters driven by the Power of Reason are most often the expert, technician, scientist or professional observer in a story.  They have an excellent grasp of details and often have terrific memories and great powers of recall.

In Up in The Air, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is an expert at what he does— firing people.  He is a consummate professional, calm, skillful and dispassionately pleasant.

He displays an amazing ability to recall the contents of his subjects’ personnel files.  He surprises his colleague Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) by remembering a person took cooking lessons earlier in his career and uses that information to terminate a highly charged interview successfully.

Power of Reason characters dominate a story situation by force of their special expertise, independent thinking, superior knowledge, keen analysis and cool self-containment.

Here Bingham displays his mastery of the airport security line:

Ryan Bingham: Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes. Gotta love ‘em.

Natalie Keener: That’s racist.

Ryan Bingham: I’m like my mother, I stereotype. It’s faster.

Power of Reason characters don’t believe in getting personally involved or emotionally entangled.  They always try to maintain a sense of professional distance.  They value their independence and their self-sufficiency above all else.

Here Bingham lectures on “How to Empty Your Backpack of Needless Relationships”:

Ryan Bingham: How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life… you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV… the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home… I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office… and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks.

At the end of the movie, Bingham abandons his lecture and makes a leap of faith to connect emotionally and romantically with Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), a woman he meets on the road.    She tells him early on that “she is him only female”.

Bingham falls for her, shows up at her door and has his heart crushed by this cool, detached and emotionally unavailable woman who strictly compartmentalizes her life.  She has a box for home and family as a busy working wife and mother and another box for her life on the road as an unattached high-powered female executive.  She coldly calls Bingham “a parenthesis” in her life.

Beneath their superior or distant exterior Power of Reason characters, like Ryan Bingham, are actually quite sensitive and deeply fear being overwhelmed emotionally.  These characters experience the rush and intensity of personal emotion as annihilating.  This response is the exact opposite of Power of Idealism character’s reaction.

The Hurt Locker – Power of Idealism

Characters driven by the Power of Idealism want to stand out from the crowd, to be extraordinary, unique and special.  They are rebels, iconoclasts, mavericks and artists of all kinds.

Power of Idealism characters are intense, passionate and rebellious. Everyone in the story immediately recognizes and acknowledges that their role is somehow heroic or “larger than than life.”  They don’t play by anyone else’s rules.

Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) in The Hurt Locker is a quintessential Power of Idealism character.  He is intense, cavalier and is moving swiftly toward becoming a legend.  In this exchange, his reputation grows:

Colonel Reed: You the guy in the flaming car, Sergeant James?

Staff Sergeant William James: Afternoon, sir. Uh, yes, sir.

Colonel Reed: Well, that’s just hot shit. You’re a wild man, you know that?

Staff Sergeant William James: Uh, yes, sir.

Colonel Reed: He’s a wild man. You know that? I want to shake your hand.

Staff Sergeant William James: Thank you, sir.

Colonel Reed: Yeah. How many bombs have you disarmed?

Staff Sergeant William James: Uh, I’m not quite sure.

Colonel Reed: Segeant?

Staff Sergeant William James: Yes, sir.

Colonel Reed: I asked you a question.

Staff Sergeant William James: Eight hundred seventy-three, sir.

Colonel Reed: Eight hundred! And seventy-three. Eight hundred! And seventy-three. That’s just hot shit. Eight hundred and seventy-three.

Staff Sergeant William James: Counting today, sir, yes.

Colonel Reed: That’s gotta be a record. What’s the best way to… go about disarming one of these things?

Staff Sergeant William James: The way you don’t die, sir.

Colonel Reed: That’s a good one. That’s spoken like a wild man. That’s good.

A. O. Scott, writing for the New York Times describes James like this:  ”Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) is something else, someone we recognize instantly even if we have never seen anyone quite like him before. He is a connoisseur, a genius, an artist.”

The artistic temperament— and the yearning or longing for or to be “something more extraordinary” creates a white hot intensity of feeling in these characters.  In contrast, long-term relationships and the comfortable companionship that committed loving couples (and families) share seem suffocatingly pedestrian.

Power of Idealism characters, operating in their Dark Side, are unprepared to make the ordinary, small, everyday sacrifices real long-term every-day love requires, especially when there are children involved.

In this exchange James explains to his infant son:

Staff Sergeant William James: You love playing with that. You love playing with all your stuffed animals. You love your Mommy, your Daddy. You love your pajamas. You love everything, don’t ya? Yea. But you know what, buddy? As you get older… some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore. Like your Jack-in-a-Box. Maybe you’ll realize it’s just a piece of tin and a stuffed animal. And then you forget the few things you really love. And by the time you get to my age, maybe it’s only one or two things. With me, I think it’s one.

James’ character reminds me of another Power of Idealism character addicted to the drug of violence, the Narrator (Edward Norton) in Fight Club.  He feels dead in his ordinary every-day life and must witness extreme pain in support groups to find release, catharsis and peaceful sleep.  Soon, even that isn’t enough.

The Narrator (with disgust):  “This chick Marla Singer did not have testicular cancer. She was a liar. She had no diseases at all. I had seen her at Free and Clear my blood parasite group Thursdays. Then at Hope, my bi-monthly sickle cell circle. And again at Seize the Day, my tuberculous Friday night. Marla… the big tourist. Her lie reflected my lie. Suddenly I felt nothing. I couldn’t cry, so once again I couldn’t sleep.”

He must then inflict pain on himself and others, through brutal beatings in Fight Club in order to feel anything or even seem alive.  However horrific, this violence has an intensity he finds satisfying.  Better to feel this than nothing at all.

In Trainspotting, Power of Idealism character, Renton (Ewan McGregor), recounts his Dark Side experience with heroin.  The drug’s effects are also intense but horrific.  The adrenalin rush of  Staff Sergeant James’ work seems much like Renton describes heroin:  “Take the best orgasm you’ve ever had… multiply it by a thousand, and you’re still nowhere near it.”

Kenneth Turan sums up this feeling writing about The Hurt Locker in The Los Angeles Times:  ”The film starts with a celebrated quote from the book War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges: “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” It’s easy to understand this thought intellectually, but by the time this remarkable film (The Hurt Locker) comes to an end, we feel it in our souls.”

Power of Reason characters withdraw from the intimacy of love and family because they are afraid they will feel too much.  Power of Idealism characters withdraw from the intimacy of love and family because they are afraid they won’t feel enough.

The first step in the process was an RFP (a Request for Proposal) sent out to three different ad/branding agencies that FremantleMedia was interested in working with.  This was done out of London because FMX, the Fremantle Digital Division, has its offices in London.  I helped prepare a document which would be the basis for the creative input to each agency.  This document detailed the basic story arc of the series, the main characters, the location of the series, tone and style of the series and the intended audience.  We got back several pitches detailing different logo ideas from each company.  (See the article on each company’s pitch and what I learned about pitching from the other side of the desk).

The next step was choosing an agency based on the ideas submitted.  We choose the agency with the most enthusiasm and best visual understanding of the series.  I helped prepared a set of notes detailing our feedback on their designs and selecting a specific direction from the ideas and color palettes they submitted.

Two important factors in our selection process was concept (the central idea, emotion and tone behind the logo) and execution (the actual artwork itself).  It’s not very different from the challenges of telling a great story.  A logo is a kind of short-hand visual story.  It should convey the essence of the brand, idea or item in an instant.  Every web series needs a good logo.  It is the quick visual identity of the show and it marks it as your creative vision.

Here a few guidelines about what constitutes a great logo (adapted from The Logo Factory design articles):

1) Uniqueness

Your logo should be able to stand out as completely ‘yours’. It should be unique to your show and give a quick visual sense of what your show is about, what its style and tone are and what audience segment your are appealing to.

2) Timeless

Every few years there’s a new design trend, or fad. A few years ago it was the ’swoosh’– which made logos all hi-tech and ‘internety’. The latest design logo trend is so-called 2.0, a technique that (like a lot of design trends) can be traced back to Apple Computers. Take your logo, add a ‘gel’ treatment, give it glassy reflection at the bottom and you’re all set. Instead of trying to be hip or trendy go for something classic and classy that will stand the test of time.

3) Adaptability

Over the life of your show, you may want to plaster your logo over everything you create for the show or send out about it. In order to do this, you’ll need a logo that’s adaptable to a wide range uses.  Design gimmicks like reflections, lens flares and drop shadows can render your logo impractical on a variety materials and surfaces. Your logo should work on FAXes, embroidery, newspaper ads, invoices, letterheads, collectable items (like coffee mugs, pens or shirts etc.). You’ll need a quality black and white version that can reproduce as a halftone grayscale, or in the cases of low-resolution black and white reproduction, a stylized linear version.

4) Scalability

When using your logo, you’ll need to be able to use it small. Really small. Postage stamp size small. It’s always the simpler logos that stand out when viewed from a distance. Cluttered logos aren’t recognizable in small scale.  When it comes to scalability, the text portion of the logo is the extremely important. Elaborate fonts or text doesn’t read very well at half an inch high.

5) Color is Secondary

Color is extremely important in depicting tone and style. Using consistent colors will become part of your show’s brand – that’s understood. However, when it comes to the design of your logo, color must always be secondary. A logo that requires color to ‘hold’ the design together is fine when reproduction is optimal –but logos that rely too much on color tend to blend together when used small.   Unless the contrast between the two colors is pronounced, will be a grey mess when used in black and white (on for example an envelope). As for low-resolution black and white reproduction (FAXES or checks, etc) you can forget about readability completely when color is key the the logo’s readability.

All those concerns were key to our final design decision.  We are very excited about the choice to make the logo look like newsprint origami.  Origami was a great direction to take because it symbolizes moving from something flat and static (a piece or paper or newsprint) and turning it into something original, creative and dynamic— a unique piece of art.  That is in essence what our characters are doing with their lives on the series.  They are moving beyond their troubles and set-backs to create something bigger, bolder and more audacious than what went before.  Newsprint was appropriate because our main character is remaking an out-moded newspaper into an online journal sharing stories about women starting over.

The logo we came up with could be animated at the beginning of each episode.  It can work in color, in a black and white grayscale and in a more stylized graphic version for use on smaller items like on pencils or as a piece of jewelry, like a brooch.  I will unveil the final design in the week or so.  Watch this space!

Top Photo Credit HERE

This is from Savvy-Writer.com and my friend Rebecca Sebek.  She interviewed me as a result of my responding to her query on Reporter Connection.  You can register either as an expert or as a writer (or both).  It’s a great way to research that next script or arcane topic of interest. Here is what she has to say about this amazing new service:

Freelance writers will find Reporter Connection to be their new best friend. Sometimes you don’t where to find experts to interview for your book, radio show, or website (or script). Reporter Connection connects you to experts within seconds.

I’ve used Reporter Connection three times and have been blown away by the responses I received. I had to stop two of my queries because of the amount of responses I received. In one day, I received 15 responses. The next day, I received 10. God only knows how many responses I would have received if I let my query run. I was overwhelmed and overjoyed at the same time!

If you visit my Screenwriting page, you’ll see the benefit of signing up with Reporter Connection. I met some amazing people who are experts their field. The knowledge these people shared is invaluable.

And best of all it’s FREE!

Photo Attribution Here

Here are six lessons I learned sitting on the other side of the desk.  I also had the realization that at one time or another I have made all these mistakes myself. What an eye-opener to see how those missteps look “from the other side.”  Here’s what I learned:

1. Be Authentic. Don’t try to second-guess what the producer wants.  It is impossible to inuit someone else’s taste.  Don’t make stereotypical assumptions. Instead, offer a fresh take on the core idea that reflects who YOU are. When you pitch be true to the sensibility of the project, but bring something unique and original to the table.  The lesson here is be yourself and speak with an authentic voice that ADDS something to the project.  Demonstrate that you have a clear point of view and can make a real contribution.

2. Get to the Point. It’s always great to do your homework and research whatever element you are pitching.  But avoid the temptation to over-explain or simply show off your background knowledge.  Don’t get into research unless it has a clear correlation to something specific in your pitch.  You run the risk of telling the producers what they already know when you include too much extra information.  Instead, get right to the heart of what it is you are pitching.  Show don’t tell applies here.  Show you’ve done the research by the quality and specificity of what you pitch.

3. Stay on Target. Make sure everything in your pitch reflects the core idea of the project.  Beyond Lemonade is for and about women over forty.  Several of the pitches included default ideas that missed our target completely.  I say “default ideas” because most online projects are aimed at a younger audience.  The ideas pitched might have worked in the usual situation but weren’t appropriate for and didn’t reflect our unique audience.  Be meticulous in each and every element of your pitch.  Make absolutely sure that everything in your presentation reflects the core idea at the heart of the project.

4. Ask Questions. Be certain you have all the information you need to pitch. If you don’t understand something, ask. Intelligent questions convey interest and enthusiasm.   A few pointed questions can also help you tailor your pitch to the unique circumstances surrounding the project.  Be judicious and stay on point.  Don’t waste  time with irrelevant questions.

5. Be Enthusiastic. Only pitch those projects that really excite you.  If the project is not for you then pass and concentrate on something else that is more your style.  If the project is your “dream job” then let it show.  Communicate why the project is in tune with your unique sensibilities or interests.  Enthusiasm is infectious and really can’t be faked.  Show up in person.  No one can sell your pitch better than you can.  Don’t “phone it in” on any level.

6. Take Direction.  When a producer asks for an adjustment, get to the bottom of what is missing (or wrong).  Ask, “What would adding (or subtracting) this address for you?”   Don’t fixate on the literal detail the producers are questioning.  A literal fix often doesn’t really address the underlying problem.  It’s your job to discover what is actually at issue and fix that.  Be creative.  You are being hired to be a problem-solver.  Solve the problem in a way that expresses the talent and insight you bring to the table.

Developing Beyond Lemonade had been an exciting and revealing process on so many levels for me.  Having evaluated these pitches will change forever my view of the pitching process.  I know it’s not just me.  A Fremantle assistant who had aspirations to act was invited to help the director casting another Fremantle online project.  Seeing the auditions from the director’s side of the table was a real eye-opener for her.  She told me it completely turned around her view of auditions.  Here is the final take-away.  The person on the other side of the table REALLY wants you to do well.  They WANT you to be the answer to their prayers.  They are on your side.  Only you can mess it up for yourself.

The photo at the top of the post is attributed HERE

I am writing to share my experience running The Actors Gym, an ongoing workshop for working writers and actors that meets on Monday nights at the Asylum Theatre in Hollywood, because I take great pride in the work we do there every week.

.

The Gym is a unique community.  Unlike many “classes” in LA, it’s not a place to perform or score career points.  Rather, it’s a place where you are encouraged to take risks, where you’re allowed to make mistakes, where you’re free to explore and work on your craft and get honest, challenging feedback from colleagues invested in helping you succeed, a place where you’ll be pushed to go further and dig deeper than you ever dreamed possible.

.

For the actors, that might mean working on scene study, cold readings, monologues, or your one man show, whatever you decide you need to focus your energy and talent on.  You can also use the Gym to work on all the auditions you’ll be getting this pilot season.

For the writers, you can bring in pages and hear them read out loud by strong actors invested in helping you uncover the work you’ve done.   You can dig into story and structure.  You can practice pitching, looking at both the writing of the individual pitch or how you are “in the room” or both.

.

In the Gym, each member focuses on what they want to focus on.  Your time there is your own to work on what you choose to work on.  And I work with any member who wants guidance in making those choices.

And after you work, you decide whether you want to hear feedback from your colleagues or not.  It’s your time, your work, and your decision.

.

And possibly more important than what happens on stage, the Gym is a wonderful, supportive community of actors and writers who come together every week to lift each other up, not tear each other down.    Being part of a community like the Gym can make a big difference when you live and work in Los Angeles.

.

If you are already familiar with Bobby Moresco’s Actors Gym, then I’m sure all of this sounds familiar, as the Monday Night group is an off-shoot of the Gym that meets with Bobby on Saturdays.

.

The Gym costs $100 a month.  We meet every Monday night at 7:30 in the Asylum Theatre just west of Vine on Santa Monica Blvd.

Please feel welcome to come by, check it out and see for yourself if the Gym is the right place for you to continue working on your craft while you pursue your career.  Just let me know when to expect you.

.

Look forward to seeing you.

.

Gilles Chiasson

Director of Development

Moresco Productions

gilleschiasson@gmail.com

818.842.0384 office

Some of the most beloved box office hits of all time are of the Boy Meets Girl variety. But great Romantic Comedies seem increasingly hard to come by. They are among the most difficult stories to write. It’s hard to live up to the standards of The Philadelphia Story (Katherine Hepburn & Cary Grant) or more recently, As Good As It Gets (Helen Hunt & Jack Nicholson) or Moonstruck (Cher & Nicolas Cage). NOTE: Download the full Moonstruck script at the end of this post.

The three highest grossing Romantic Comedies in 2009 were The Proposal (Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds) written by Pete Chiarelli, It’s Complicated (Meryl Streep & Alec Baldwin) written by Nancy Meyers, and The Ugly Truth (Katherin Heigl & Gerard Butler) screenplay by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. Each is a gallant effort. But despite some terrific performances each movie manages to stumble into more than one of the RomCom Pitfalls.

Fundamental RomCom Elements

There are a number of fundamental elements that make successful romantic comedies emotionally appealing. These elements are just as important in a romantic subplot or any other emotional partnership. Here is a look at three of these elements (with more to be discussed at the February 18th workshop):

Conflict

1. There must be a real “battle” for a “battle of the sexes.”

In classic romantic comedies, the love interests take an instant dislike, have a deep distrust or are separated by major philosophical or personal differences. Love interests should have opposite worldviews and views on what life and love is or should be. They should not agree on anything. Their values should be diametrically opposed. Two of the three 2009 films fumbled this element and one was right on target.

In The Proposal Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) actively dislikes but conscientiously serves his boss Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock). Sandra Bullock barely notices Reynolds except to give him orders. She doesn’t dislike him at all.

In It’s Complicated Jane (Meryl Streep) and Adam (Alec Baldwin) survive a bitter divorce from each other. They are civil in public ten years after their marriage has ended. Most of their hatred is now dissipated.

In The Ugly Truth Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a hard-working “cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’” TV news producer. Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) is an impulsive, spontaneous and vulgar TV personality. This film’s characters start out with the most active dislike on both sides.

Gifts

2. Both love interests must grow or change through their relationship with one another.

Something profound should be missing in each love interest’s life, character and or personality. This missing piece is an important personal deficiency leading to overall unhappiness. The problem isn’t just that the character is missing someone to love. It should be key to his or her difficulties in life.

In contrast to this major deficiency, each character has an abundance of some other over-developed trait. This should be something the other love interest has “to a fault.” One person has too much of one thing and gives a gift of a bit of that quality to the other.

For example: In Moonstruck Cher (Power of Love) is no-nonsense, practical, caring and responsible about all her obligations. This is demonstrated in the opening scenes where she visits her bookkeeping clients. She is so practical she is about to settle for a man she doesn’t love but who is a solid member of the community. During a very unromantic proposal he tells her: “You take care of me.” What she needs is passion, inspiration and the fiery spark of life.

Nickolas Cage (Power of Idealism) has passion and fire to the extreme. He needs someone to provide more of a stable base and an even keel. He needs to let go of his nearly operatic anger and bitterness and move on in his life. The two lovers challenge and learn from each other. Their exchange of gifts makes each a better, more well-rounded and complete person.

In a classic love story two imperfect halves come together to form a more perfect whole. Each character brings something that is vitally necessary to the other’s overall well-being and completeness. That critical exchange of gifts is obtained through clash and conflict with the love interest.

This is where all three of the 2009 romantic comedies fall down. None of the characters experience a full and equal exchange of gifts.

In The Proposal Sandra Bullock’s characte is a frosty Power of Reason character. She is all efficiency, smarts and expertise at what she does. In the first few minutes, we see her working and running on her treadmill like a robot. She is cold, superior, demanding and is without warmth, a personal life or deeper connections with others.

Margaret Tate: What am I allergic to?
Andrew Paxton: Pine nuts, and the full spectrum of human emotion.

Time with Reynolds and his family cracks Bullock’s reserve. She tells him: “I forgot what it’s like to be part of a family.”

Power of Reason characters project an arrogant, hard and distant exterior (or Mask) not because they have no feelings, but because they have too many feelings. They fear that if they don’t keep those feelings buried, they they will be overwhelmed or annihilated by them. (We learn Bullock’s parents were killed in a car crash when she was very young and she never got over the tragedy.)

Power of Reason characters believe they can master and contain their feelings enough to never be overwhelmed or hurt again. Jack Nicolson in As Good As It Gets is another example of this Character Type.

Ryan Reynolds, a Power of Love character, is Bullock’s kind, responsible and very practical assistant, Andrew Paxton. He anticipates her every need and is always at hand to do her bidding. He may have his resentments but he never turns her down or disappoints her. His faithfulness, genuine talent and kindness (along with his love for his wacky family) melts her frozen heart.

What does Bullock give Reynolds in return? Normally, what a Power of Love character needs is the passion and strength to stand up and fight for what he or she wants. Reynolds’ character is already able to stand up to his father. He is strong enough to leave his family behind in Alaska and pursue his dreams in New York on his own. He has no trouble fighting for what he wants. He learns nothing of substance from Bullock. There is no equal exchange of gifts.

In It’s Complicated Meryl Streep is Jane, another Power of Love character. She is warm, kind and caring— a wonderful bountiful cook and a great mom. Alec Baldwin, Adam— the husband she divorced, is a Power of Ambition character. He is driven, vain and self-centered. He dumped her for a gorgeous and much younger trophy wife.

Despite the fun of their romp together neither one learns much from the other. Streep already is a savvy and successful businesswoman. She is fully capable of getting what she wants (exemplified by her very close supervision of her new kitchen addition). Baldwin gets his comeuppance and experiences sharp twinges of regret, but learns nothing from the affair. Steve Martin, Streep’s new love interest, is too bland to either teach or learn much from their affair either.

It’s interesting to note that It’s Complicated had very few lines in the “Memorable Quotes” section for the film on IMDB. It had the least memorable lines of all three films discussed here. I love seeing Meryl Streep on screen, and I thought the film was pleasant and diverting to watch, but it’s simply not a classic of the kind.

In The Ugly Truth Katherine Heigl is Abby Richter, a prim “tick-the-box” and “by-the-numbers” TV producer and person. She does background checks on her dates and has a specific checklist for her ideal mate. She is a tightly-wound, rather judgmental control freak Power of Conscience character. Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story is another uptight example of this Character Type. On television’s Cheers, Shelley Long played this Character Type as Diane Chambers.

Although Heigl’s character is as professional, efficient and hard-working as Bullock’s character, Hiegl (Conscience) is intense, neurotic and desperate-to-be-right whereas Bullock (Reason) is calm, cool and unflappable. Although both are bossy and controlling, passion and intensity is a key difference between a Power of Conscience character and a Power of Reason character.

Mike Chadway: (Love) It’s terrifying. Especially when I’m in love with a psycho like you.
Abby Richter: I am not a psycho!
Mike Chadway: I just told you that I love you and all you heard was “psycho.” You’re the definition of neurotic.
Abby Richter: No! The definition of neurotic is a person who suffers from anxiety, obessive thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical ailments without any objective reason…
Mike Chadway: Shut up! Yet again I told you that I’m in love with you and you’re standing there giving me a vocabulary lesson.
Abby Richter: You’re in love with me. Why?
Mike Chadway: Beats the shit out of me, but I am.

Heigl’s love interest, is Gerard Butler, Power of Will character Mike Chadway. He is a big, bold and a lusty larger-than-life man’s man. He makes no apologies for his appetites. But he is afraid of the vulnerability that comes with true love.

They make a deal: Heigl will producer his show if Butler will help her snag the man of her dreams (the doctor next door). Butler teaches Heigl to relax, be more spontaneous and give in to her sensuous side. He gets her to stop thinking or worrying and start appealing to men’s carnal instincts (and enjoy her own).

Again, the exchange of gifts is very one-sided. Heigl learns something but there is no crucial missing piece she fills in for him. Butler admits he loves Heigl, but why does she and she alone give him the thing (other than love) missing in his life?

In all three 2009 films, nothing profound is missing in BOTH love interests’ lives and personalities. The corny line: “You complete me” in Jerry Maguire is key to making a classic Romantic Comedy work emotionally.

We must see two imperfect halves come together to make a more perfect whole. Each character must exchange a gift vital to the love interest’s overall well-being and happiness (and not just be someone to love).

Choice

3. The lovers must choose the soul mate by rejecting the appropriate mate.

In order for a romantic comedy to work the lovers have to overcome obstacles on three levels.

a) The external forces, that keep the lovers apart (i.e. differences in culture, class, status, ethnicity, race, gender, age, religion or social convention).

b) The conflict with others, that keeps the lovers apart.

c) The internal forces, that prevent the lovers from getting together (internal values that make each lover question and reject the initial advances that each receives from the other).

Romantic comedies work best when there is a strong personal impediment posed by a relationship with an appropriate mate. An appropriate mate is a person who, for a variety of external reasons, SHOULD be a perfect match but isn’t.

The appropriate mate is someone who is a good solid match on the outside. He or she is the person the family or the social circle believes is the safe choice. These other relationships are horrified that the lover isn’t being “sensible.”

The soul mate is someone who is wildly inappropriate but who completes the love interest in some vital or fundamental way. He or she challenges the love interest to risk all for love, ignoring or rejecting family, culture, tradition or social convention.

A lover must be prepared to reject and hurt well-meaning friends and family and the socially “appropriate” mate. The more compelling, the appropriate mate is, the more difficult and dangerous it is to choose the soul mate instead.

In Moonstruck, Cher’s appropriate mate is her soul mate’s brother! Her relationship with Cage has the potential to rip the two brothers and the larger family apart. If it wasn’t a comedy, the situation could result in tragedy.

No friend, family member or other significant other objects, fights against or presents any serious obstacle to the lovers in any of the three 2009 Romantic Comedies. None of the films demand enough of the lovers. There is not enough conflict and very little risk involved in any of these pairings.

In The Proposal, Reynolds’ father is against the match but his mother and grandmother seem to accept Bullock with open arms (giving her an heirloom necklace and the grandmother’s wedding dress). Reynold’s appropriate mate, a local school teacher, isn’t a serious option because she won’t leave Alaska. The external threat (the INS) serves more to throw the couple together than to drive them apart.

In It’s Complicated, Streep actually ends up with the appropriate mate. Steve Martin is a nice guy who won’t challenge, change or disappoint her. She ditches the wildly inappropriate and infuriating Baldwin.

In The Ugly Truth, there is very little opposing the match. The appropriate mate (the doctor next door) is a weakly drawn side character who poses no real threat and isn’t compelled to really fight for her.

Falling in love isn’t dangerous for any of the characters in these three 2009 films. We have little emotional investment in these stories because so little hangs in the balance.

Nothing in these pleasant but ultimately unsatisfying pictures delivers the emotional satisfaction of Moonstruck.

To quote Ronny Cammareri, played by Nicolas Cage, and written by John Patrick Shanley: “Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn’t know this either, but love don’t make things nice—it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren’t here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and DIE. The storybooks are BULLSHIT. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and GET in my bed!”

In the final moments of the scene, Cher holds the most wounded part of Cage, his hand, and he saves her from “freezing to death.” Like in Pretty Woman, “he saves her and she saves him right back.”

Read the whole scene above of Moonstruck by downloading the full script here. (NOTE:  This is a earlier draft some which was cut in the film.  But the key scenes are there.)

Photo at the top of this blog post attributed here

From BrandChannel

It’s not too unusual these days to find DVDs for sale in supermarket chains. But how about a supermarket chain that actually creates and produces its own movies that are available only at its respective stores? Talk about synergy.

Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket group, is partnering with a media firm to create DVD feature films based on books. The films will be available only as DVDs — not in movie theaters — and will be sold only through Tesco’s retail and online operations.

“This ground-breaking relationship with Amber Entertainment is a significant development for Tesco and the first of its kind for the industry,” says Tesco’s entertainment director, Rob Salter. “Through this partnership we will be able to offer our customers an exclusive window to own a first-run film from a range of well-known authors.”

Tesco has already cut a deal with best-selling author Joan Collins to sell four film adaptations of her books. Collins said “I love the concept of creating quality DVDs I know my readers will enjoy. It’s an innovative idea to partner with Tesco, and gives the consumer something exclusive.”

Other authors in talks with Tesco include Judy Blume, Dick & Felix Francis, and Anne Perry.

Full story here